Automatic liquid pouring device for vacuum bottle

ABSTRACT

An automatic liquid contents pouring device for a vacuum bottom. The lid of the bottle is in part formed into a holder containing a motor, dry cells, circuits and a switch related therewith. The lid forms a plug cylinder portion in the center of a bottom bottle member formed integrally with the holder. A propeller shaft having a motor-driven propeller at the lower end extends longitudinally through a liquid feed pipe joined to the plug cylinder portion and extending downwardly of the bottle. The other end of a gutter designed to lead the liquid contents and extending laterally in continuous relation with the plug cylinder portion reaches a bottle mouth projecting from a part of the bottom bottle member.

nited States Patent 1 91 [111 3,825,156 Nobuo July 23, 1974 [54] AUTOMATIC LIQUID POURING DEVICE 3,523,629 8/1970 Yiu Dak Chi... 5....222/333 X [75] Inventor: Shrrae Nobuo, Nishmomlya, Japan Assistant Examiner prancis L Banuska [73] Assignee: Tiger Vacuum Bottle Industrial Altomey, g r Firm-H0lmal1 & Stem Company, Limited, Osaka Pref., Japan 7] ABSTRACT [22] Filed; 13, 1973 An automatic liquid contents pouring device for a vacuum bottom. The lid of the bottle is in part formed PP N013 332,092 into a holder containing a motor, dry cells, circuits 3 and a switch related therewith. The lid forms a plug 52 us. 01. 222/183, 222/333 cyhhdet P ht the center of a bottom bottle them- 51 int. Cl B67d 5/48 bet formed integrally with the hhldet- A Propeller [58] Field of Search .1 222/333 385, 183; Shaft having a mototdtivth P P at the end 417/242. 215/i3 R 13 extends longitudinally through a liquid feed pipe joined to the plug cylinder portion and extending [56] References Cited downwardly of the bottle. The other end of a gutter UNITED STATES PATENTS designed to lead the liquid contents and extending laterally in continuous relation with the plug cylinder g f l? portion reaches a bottle mouth projecting from a part lav lS 3,289,897 12/1966 Ginsberg 222/385 x of the bottom bottle member 3,425,358 2/1969 Kilbourn et al 222/385 X 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures g8 56 57 10%;? 34 54 25204 3'2; 35/ 48 p 11' 2 39 29 11 28 13 12 8 1 31 I 27 F 15 y l 1 l 1 i 1 g -83 i 1 1 l l I 1 ,'-68 T A 73 t 72" I 71 I 75 FOR VACUUM BOTTLE Primary Examiner-Robert B. Reeves AUTOMATIC LIQUID POURING DEVICE Ton VACUUM BOTTLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the increased use of vacuum bottle in the home, they have increased in their holding capacity. The bottle, when filled with contents such as water, coffee or the like, becomes more heavy, and it often happens that even adults find it difficult to tilt the bottle in pouring the contents therefrom. Handling of the bottle has become a problem to women who do house work of this kind. In order to solve the problem, it has been proposed to provide the inside of the vacuum bottle with a liquid feed pipe communicating with a bottle mouth and to pump out the liquid in the bottle from the upper part of the feed pipe by use of a hand-operated or electrically-operated pump.

While a propeller type feed pump is disposed in the passageway communication with the liquid in the bottle so as to pump up the liquid, a motor for operating the pump is mounted on the top of a plug mechanically connected to the pump and spaced apart from the contents of the bottle and which is adapted to plug up'the bottle mouth, and the places where the cells and motor are disposed must be protected against the permeation of the contents of the bottle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an automatic liquid contents pouring device in a vacuum bottle and more particularly, it relates to an electrically-operated liquid contents pouring device designed to pump up the liquid contents by turning a propeller in the bottle by means of dry cells and a miniature motor incorporated into a lid-plug assembly of the bottle.

The characteristic features of this invention resides in the fact that the lid-plug assembly is made up of an upper chamber equipped with dry cell chambers, a motor and switches and a liquid feed pipe, the pipe being equipped in the lower part with a liquid feed pump driven by the motor and being connected to the lower part of the upper chamber and extending vertically downward and leading in the upper part to a bottle mouth, and the motor with its shaft vertically held being disposed on a horizontal plate defining the upper chamber. The lid-plug assembly has a bottom that can not only stop up a bottle mouth but also defines the bottom of the upper chamber, and the upper end of the vertical liquid feed pipe is watertightly connected to the center portion of the bottom. The bottle mouth includes a mouth of an inner vacuum bottle as a vacuum bottle and a lid-plug assembly bearing surface which extends around the mouth and serves as that top of an outer casing of the bottle on which the bottom of the lid-plug assembly is stably seated.

An object of this invention is to provide an automatic liquid contents pouring device in which a lid-plug assembly-can be easily removed together with a liquid feed pipe when the lidcontents are poured into the vacuum bottle and in which, after the bottle has been filled with the contents, the lid-plug assembly can be easily and watertightly inserted into the mouth of a vacuum bottle and the mouth of the top of an outer casing of the bottle. I i

The upper chamber of the lid-plug assembly includes a cover plate which is not only equipped with a pushbutton for a switch making and breaking an electric circuit between dry cells and a motor, but it also equipped with a helicoid coupling for facilitating change of dry cells whenthe dry cells have run out of power.

The shaft of a pump connected by a solid shaft coupling of elastic material to the shaft of the motor extends longitudinally through the liquid feed pipe, and the pump shaft reaches the inside of the lower end of the feed pipe, where a propeller is fixed and supported on a bearing and rotated on the same axis as the shaft of the motor. The periphery of the lower end of the liquid feed pipe is surrounded with a chemical resisting elastic ring, and accordingly even if the pipe should strike the inside surface of the bottle when it is taken out from the bottle, there is no possibility of the inside surface being damaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS How the foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention are attained will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the embodiment in FIG. 1 with a top cover 49 removed therefrom;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional front view of a lid-plug assembly; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, broken in part, of a liquid feed pipe and a propeller at the lower part thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a conventional type vacuum bottle formed of a double glass bottle, the bottle being held atits bottom by a known means, namely, a bottom holder 6 being supported by a bottom supporting member 5 within an outer casing 2 made of a metal shell, the member 5 being screwed by screws 4 into a bottom plate 3 of the outer casing 2. On the other hand, a mouth 1 of the upper part of the vacuum bottle 1 is covered at its top surface and on the periphery extending from the surface with anelastic packing 7 angle-shaped in section, the top and periphery of the elastic packing 7 being tightly held by holding rings 9 and 9' in the center of a saucer-shaped inner plate 8 fixed at the upper end of the outer casing 2 and which is designed to receive a lid-plug assembly that will later be described. The vacuum bottle 1 is securely held within the outer casing 2 in the manner described above.

The lid-plug assembly 10 according to the invention is of the construction that will be described below. As shown in FIG. 4, a bottle member 11 adapted to be seated on the saucer-shaped inner plate 8 includes a lower beak portion 12 having a mouth 13 projecting in a beak-like manner from a part of the bottle member 11. Also, it includes a plug cylinder portion 14 projecting downwardly from the center portion and a connecting neck portion 15 for connecting a liquid feed pipe smaller in diameter than the portion 14 and projecting further downwardly and will later be described. A partition wall 16 semicircular in plane around the propeller shaft to be presently described is longitudinally formed within the plugcylinder portion 14, the wall being continued to a space of the connecting neck portion and a space of the lower beak portion 12 but being designed to be spaced apart from other upper portions of the bottle member 11, and both ends of the partition wall 16 semicircular in plane form a gutter wall 16 on the lower beak portion 12 in the manner that the wall 16' may extend toward the mouth 13. The plug cylinder portion 14 is formed on the outside with a screw thread 14' and an elastic cylindrical ring 17 of rubber or rubberlike plastic resin is fitted around the thread 14', and the cylindrical ring 17 bulges out in the direction externally of the periphery of the ring 17 by the upper end of the ring 17 resting against a stopper portion 18 formed in the plug cylinder portion 14 and the lower end thereof being held by a ring holder 19 fitted over the screw thread 14, thus being adapted to be inserted into the mouth of the vacuum bottle 1 and to stop up the mouth. The bottle member 11 forms the bottom of the lid-plug assembly 10, and the peripheral limit of the bottom bottle member 11 is shown by line 11. As apparent from the partition 16 and the description made above, a gutter cover 20 that covers the lower beak portion 12 and the gutter wall 16 is bonded by a bonding against to the upper part of the gutter wall 16' that forms a gutter on the lower beak portion 12 as a part of the bottom bottle member extending to the mouth 13. That part of the gutter cover 20 through which a propeller shaft to be later described passes is formed into a sleeve boss 21 higher than the other portions of the cover 20, and the propeller shaft passes through a hole 22 of the boss 21.

The bottom bottle member 11 is fitted with a cover 23 having a space, defined like a container, for receiving power elements that will presently be described. The cover of the type described is shaped so as to substantially close the top of the bottom bottle member 11. Namely, it has a circumferential wall portion 24 fitted over the periphery of the bottom bottle member 11 and a mouth cover 25 covering the lower beak portion 12 and the gutter cover 20. The cover 23 having the space of the kind described is fixed by screws 26 and 27 to the bottom bottle member 11 and assembled integrally with the bottom bottle member 11 by the cover 23 not only being fixed by screws 26 and 27 to the bottom bottle member 11 but also being bonded at 28 to the periphery of the bottom bottle member 11 on the entire circumference including the periphery of the mouth 13.

The main flat surface portion of the cover 23 is positioned in the plane slightly higher than the mouth 13, and is, as shown in FIG. 3, provided on either side of the center portion with each one recess 29 for receiving a dry cell therein. In the center portion of the main flat surface is formed an opening 30, and a packing 31 is placed on the opening and a miniature motor 32 is mounted thereon with its shaft 33 projecting downward. The motor 32 is secured to the main fiat surface by a motor cover 34 and screws 35. The motor cover 34 is provided with terminals 36 and 37 of the circuits for the motor 32 as shown in FIG. 3. The terminal 36 is connected to a contact segment 38 in one dry cell recess 29 and the other terminal 37 is connected to a switch contact on an insulating stud 39 mounted adjacent to the motor cover 34. On the switch contact 40 is formed a resiliently spaced elastic switch segment 41 in continued relation with a contact segment 42 of the other dry cell. The numeral 43 designates a screw for fixing the contact segment 42. The two dry cells 44 are connected to each other in a conventional manner by a connection segment 45 secured directly by a screw 46 to the cover 23. A short round wall 48 is formed on the circumference of that main flat surface of the cover 23 on which the motor 32 and dry cells and a group of switches therefor are mounted. The circumference 50 of the top cover 49 for covering the main flat surface and the plane on which the motor cover 34 and dry cells 44 are seen is detachably brought into engagement with the round wall 48. The structure that enables this engagement is based on a conventionally known helicoid, and accordingly the round wall 48 is formed with several arcuate abutments 51 as shown in FIG. 3. Abutments 52 for engagement with these abutments 51 are formed on the circumference of the top cover 49. Since, in the embodiment illustrated, the abutments 51 are formed spacedly apart from each other at four points on the inner periphery of the round wall 48, it is only necessary to turn the top cover 49 within the range indicated by arrow 53 when it is desired to take the abutments 52 of the top cover off the abutments 51, and it is possible to bring them into helicoid engagement by turning the top cover 49 in an opposite direction. In order to maintain the state of helicoid engagement, an operable knock screw 54 of the top cover 49 is knocked into a small hole 55 of the cover 23. A spring-loaded switch button 56 urged upward by a spring 58 is inserted into the sleeve portion 57 formed on the top cover 49. The numeral 59 designates a stopper ring of the switch button 56, and the lower end 60 projecting downward therefrom is positioned on the upper part of an elastic switch segment 41 on the cover 23.

It will be understood from the structure described above that a gutter designated at 16 and defining a passageway for pouring out the liquid in the bottle is partitioned off the inside of the cover 23 by a gutter cover 20. Also, it will be understood that the cover 23 incorporates therein a motor 32, dry cells 44 for driving the motor, a group of electric circuits therefor, and a mechanism related with the switch button 56 mounted to the top cover 49.

An elastic coupling 61 having a fitting hole to permit the passage of the motor shaft 33 therethrough and a fitting hole on the opposite side is coupled with the motor shaft 31, and the knurled portion 64 of the upper end of a propeller shaft 63 is inserted into the lower fitting hole 62. A propeller shaft 63 extends downward and terminates in the lower end in the neighborhood of the inside bottom of the bottle and a pumping propeller 65 is fixed to the lower end. The numeral 66 designates a baffle disc fitted loosely over the propeller shaft 63 so as to be movable up and down along the propeller shaft 63 in the upper part of the liquid feed pipe to be later described, and the disc is designed to be moved up to a solid line position by the pressure of the liquid travelling upward through the liquid pipe and to open the upper opening of the pipe and prevent strong pressure from being applied to a sleeve boss 21 of a gutter cover 20. The gap between the shaft hole 22 of the sleeve boss 21 and a propeller shaft 63 is covered in the upper part of the shaft hole 22 by a disc 67 loosely fitted over the propeller shaft. The liquid feed pipe 68 is held at the upper end by a socket 69, the socket being fitted threadedly at 70 into the inner circumference of a connecting neck portion 15 of a bottom bottle member 11.

A propeller guard sleeve 71 is connected to the lower end of the liquid pipe 68 by a socket-and-spigot joint portion 72 and inside this joint portion a propeller shaft 63 is supported by a propeller shaft bearing 74 having a cavity 73. An elastic guard ring 75 is mounted to the lower end of the propeller guard sleeve 71. In FIG. 1, the numeral 76 designates a handle mounted to the outer casing. In FIG. 4, the numeral 77 designates a small vent hole formed in the bottom bottle of a plug cylinder portion 14 of the bottom member 11, and is adapted to prevent the liquid in the bottle from producing negative pressure when the liquid is poured out.

It will be understood from the construction described above that the lid-plug assembly in the invention is assembled integrally of an elastic cylindrical ring 17 plugging the upper mouth portion 1 of thevacuum bottle 1, a liquid feed pipe 68 connected to a connecting neck cylinder portion in the hollow inside of the ring 17 and extending to the length approaching the inside bottom of the bottle 1, a propeller shaft 63 passing longitudinally through the the feed pipe 68 and having a propeller 65 inside the lower end of the pipe 68, a motor 32 for driving the propeller shaft 63, a dry cell group 44 for operating the motor 32, and a container type cover 23 and top cover 49 for positioning circuits including a switch group. When the lid-plug assembly 10 is removed upward from the upper mouth portion 1' of the bottle 1, the circumference of the upper mouth portion 1' of the bottle 1 is covered by an inside saucer-shaped plate 8 forming the top portion of the outer casing 2. Hot water or liquid is poured from the mouth 1' into the bottle 1. Thereafter, the lid-plug assembly 10 is engaged with the bottle 1, as shown, and when a switch button 56 in the top cover 49 is pressed, a switch segment 41 is brought into contact with a switch contact 40 to thereby turn the motor 32, and accordingly the propeller 65 pumps up the liquid in the bottle 1, and the liquid is overflowed to the mouthl3 from the pipe 68 and plug cylinder portion 14 through the gutter 16, and thus automatic pouring is attained.

Since the vacuum bottle of the invention makes it possible to pour out the liquid contents without tilting the bottle, it is suitable for use in the home and small office. When the dry cells have run out of power, it is only necessary to replace the old dry cells 44 in the cell holders 29 with new ones by unscrewing a knock screw 54 and disconnecting the coupling between the top cover 49 and the cover 23.

Since the connection between the shaft 33 of motor 32 and the propeller shaft 63 is made by fixing through knurls 64 to the shaft holes formed both in the upper part and in the lower part of an elastic coupling 61, and accordingly connection is very simple and smaller in noise production than mechanical coupling. The baffle disc 66 mounted to a part of the propeller shaft 63 not only prevents the liquid contents that are caused by propeller 65 to travel upward through a supply pipe 68 from reaching a sleeve boss 21 and being overflowed into the bottle member 11 of the lid-plug assembly 10, but also it serves to maintain the temperature of the contents in the bottle by falling by its empty weight on the upper end of the liquid pipe 68 as shown in an imaginary line except when the liquid is pumped out. In the bottom of a guard sleeve 71 forming the lower end of the pipe 68 is provided a hole 76 smaller in diameter than the pipe 68,.and the propeller 65 sucks up the liquid contents from the hole 76. The propeller 65 is of the type in which several longitudinal blades are fixed to a toplike boss, but it is not limited to such type alone. A bearing 74 of the propeller shaft 63 is held between the reduced diameter portion of a guard sleeve 74 and the lower end of the pipe 68.

This invention is not limited to the embodiment shown, but includes various other modifications thereof within the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle comprising:

a container-type cover, said cover housing a motor,

dry cells, circuits and switch means therefor;

a bottom bottle member being formed integrally with said container-type cover;

a saucer-shaped inner plate, said bottom bottle member being adapted to be seated on said innerplate, said bottom bottle member having a lower beak portion with a pouring mouth thereof projecting laterally in a beak-like manner from a part thereof;

a plug cylinder portion being formed in the center of said bottom bottle member, the outer periphery of said cylindrical portion being formed with a screw thread, said screw thread being surrounded with an elastic cylindrical ring bulging out in a direction externally of the periphery of said ring, the upper end of said ring mounting against a stopper portion formed in said plug cylinder portion and the lower end thereof being mounted with a ring holder fitted over said screw thread;

liquid feed pipe means connected to said plug cylinder portion and extending downwardly therefrom;

a propeller shaft passing longitudinally through said liquid feed pipe means, said shaft being driven by said motor and having a propeller disposed at its lower end;

gutter means disposed between said mouth portion and said plug cylinder portions; and

a vacuum bottle having a mouth to receive said plug cylinder portion thereinto and being equipped with an outer casing, said inner plate being disposed at the upper end of said casing.

2. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle according to claim 1, wherein said containertype cover has a top cover detachably mounted thereto, said switch means having a switch button disposed in said top cover.

3. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle according to claim 1, wherein said liquid feed pipe means is connected by a socket means to a connecting cylinder portion extending downwardly of said plug cylinder portion.

x 4. An automatic liquid pouring device according to claim 1, wherein said gutter means is formed integrally with said bottom bottle member and continues to said pouring mouth at one end of said lower beak portion projecting laterally from said bottom member, and a gutter wall of said gutter means is covered with a gutter cover.

5. An automatic liquid pouring device according to claim 1, wherein a shaft of said motor mounted on said container-type cover extends downwardly from said held on the inner periphery of said inner saucer-shaped plate receiving said bottom bottle member therein, and the upper end of said outer casing of said vacuum bottle is joined to the periphery of said inner saucershaped plate. 

1. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle comprising: a container-type cover, said cover housing a motor, dry cells, circuits and switch means therefor; a bottom bottle member being formed integrally with said container-type cover; a saucer-shaped inner plate, said bottom bottle member being adapted to be seated on said innerplate, said bottom bottle member having a lower beak portion with a pouring mouth thereof projecting laterally in a beak-like manner from a part thereof; a plug cylinder portion being formed in the center of said bottom bottle member, the outer periphery of said cylindrical portion being formed with a screw thread, said screw thread being surrounded with an elastic cylindrical ring bulging out in a direction externally of the periphery of said ring, the upper end of said ring mounting against a stopper portion formed in said plug cylinder portion and the lower end thereof being mounted with a ring holder fitted over said screw thRead; liquid feed pipe means connected to said plug cylinder portion and extending downwardly therefrom; a propeller shaft passing longitudinally through said liquid feed pipe means, said shaft being driven by said motor and having a propeller disposed at its lower end; gutter means disposed between said mouth portion and said plug cylinder portions; and a vacuum bottle having a mouth to receive said plug cylinder portion thereinto and being equipped with an outer casing, said inner plate being disposed at the upper end of said casing.
 2. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle according to claim 1, wherein said container-type cover has a top cover detachably mounted thereto, said switch means having a switch button disposed in said top cover.
 3. An automatic liquid pouring device for a vacuum bottle according to claim 1, wherein said liquid feed pipe means is connected by a socket means to a connecting cylinder portion extending downwardly of said plug cylinder portion.
 4. An automatic liquid pouring device according to claim 1, wherein said gutter means is formed integrally with said bottom bottle member and continues to said pouring mouth at one end of said lower beak portion projecting laterally from said bottom member, and a gutter wall of said gutter means is covered with a gutter cover.
 5. An automatic liquid pouring device according to claim 1, wherein a shaft of said motor mounted on said container-type cover extends downwardly from said container-type cover, and the upper end of said propeller shaft is tightly inserted into the opposite side of an elastic coupling having such extension portion tightly inserted thereinto.
 6. An automatic liquid pouring device according to claim 1, wherein said mouth of said vacuum bottle is held on the inner periphery of said inner saucershaped plate receiving said bottom bottle member therein, and the upper end of said outer casing of said vacuum bottle is joined to the periphery of said inner saucer-shaped plate. 